Mechanical Engineeringat The College of New Jersey
Graduates earn $65,761/yr in their first year — about 7.0% below the national Mechanical Engineering average. Base-case 10-year earnings $769K; scenarios range from $667K to $803K depending on AI disruption.
What this degree looks like at TCNJ
First-year earnings of $65,761 track close to the $70,527 national median for Mechanical Engineering programs. This is a middle-of-the-road outcome on salary alone.
The 10.3x earnings multiple means ten-year projected earnings exceed tuition cost by an order of magnitude. By pure financial math, this is a standout.
AI risk is moderate — 53% task exposure — and the 17% scenario spread suggests disruption would dent but not destroy the earnings outlook.
At $22,875 in median debt against $65,761 in first-year earnings, graduates can expect to clear their loan balance in under six months of full earnings.
At #205 out of 320 programs, The College of New Jersey's financial outcomes for Mechanical Engineering trail the majority of peers. The value case depends on other factors.
The five-year earnings trajectory from $65,761 to $84,253 shows 28% growth, reflecting steady but unremarkable salary progression.
Three scenarios, ten years out
Each scenario is a different assumption about how AI reshapes the career paths this major feeds into. Earnings projections stack the full 10-year cumulative trajectory; scores use the same 0–100 metric as the hero, recomputed under that scenario's assumptions.
10 year projection
Year-by-year earnings under each scenario. Base case reflects BLS growth patterns applied to TCNJ's starting earnings; optimistic and pessimistic adjust for AI's effect on each career path this major feeds into.
Common career destinations for this program's graduates, weighted by the school's specific occupation mix. Salary is BLS national median; AI risk is per-role task-exposure research.
Peer schools offering Mechanical Engineering
How TCNJ stacks up against other schools offering this major.
Other top programs at TCNJ
Other highest-scoring programs offered at TCNJ, ranked by DegreeOutlook Score.
Frequently asked about Mechanical Engineering at TCNJ
How does The College of New Jersey's Mechanical Engineering program score?
A score of 65/100 reflects decent absolute metrics, but The College of New Jersey trails the majority of Mechanical Engineering programs on relative rankings. Context matters more than the raw number.
How vulnerable is Mechanical Engineering to AI automation?
AI won't 'replace' Mechanical Engineering careers outright, but it is likely to reduce the number of job openings. We model 53% task exposure, which compresses field employment probability in our scenarios.